Gone
by intrusive
Summary: ItaSaku Chasing Naruto, Sakura finds herself lost in the forest. Confused, she trips and falls to the ground only to be rescued by... Akatsuki? Sounds lame. I know.
1. Preface

_Ok so before we even get started here._ **Not my characters.**

_'Sup people, I guess I'm kinda new to writing fanfictions and all that jazz, so here goes:_

***

Three masked ANBU darted through the trees, tense, ready for attack. They were exhausted; their mission had not been an easy one. When sent to kill Itachi Uchia, one simply did not _expect_ children, and to be ordered to kill them as well was devastating. A grimace fixed itself of the leader's face. It had been gruesome. Perhaps it was time for him to retire. The things expected of ANBU nowadays were just immoral.

Even so, relief gripped his shoulders- soon they would be home. The anticipation, the _need_ for comfort, to see his own children, his family safe was simply overwhelming.

Far above the men, a woman crouched on a branch in the vast canopy of the forest. A giggle bubbles over her full, sensual lips- childish, but with a barely detectable edge of malicious intent.

"Indeed," she murmured to herself, "revenge is sweet."

Grinning wickedly, she stood, pulling the hood of her dark cape down, shadowing all but her exotic lips. Hatred now glazed over her striking green eyes. Obscured only by the thick midnight cloth. As she jumped, the swath of black billowed out, like a small bat gliding through the shade.

Her small feet tapped lightly on the dense wood of a branch as she landed. She stilled, a sleek panther in the perpetual night of the forest, waiting for the men to approach her.

***

As the ANBU leapt into the clearing, ice threaded its way from her heart to her vocal chords. Pure contempt laced her tongue as she spoke,

"Gentlemen." The ANBU froze. "I have a message for your Hokage," Her lips twisted into a wicked grin as she pulled out a tightly wrapped scroll.

"Tell her, that your village owes me two children, one boy, one girl and a husband." Fury etched her voice as she hissed the last word- carelessly tossing the exploding scroll at the three, stunned ANBU.

The last thing the men saw as she turned to leave was the twist of her hood, and a streak of color, hair- pink.

***

**Right then, I honestly don't know where this story is going either so cut me some slack. Plus, this is just a preface so it's nice and short. We'll start at the beginning…. next time.**


	2. Rushed Goodbyes

**See preface for disclaimer.**

***

"SAKURA-CHAN!" The shrill voice was not easily mistaken. Sakura winced as the blonde jumped onto the training grounds.

"What, Naruto?"

"I'm leaving!"

Sakura cringed inwardly as she prepared for her teammate to begin another long story on how he would leave, rescue Sasuke-kun, defeat Orochimaru, become the most powerful shinobi ever, and then return to Konoha and take his rightful place as Hokage. But she hid her boredom well; knowing how crushing her disapproval would be to her friend.

"Really?" her feigned excitement had obviously been well practiced, it was hard to tell, maybe the small twitch of her eye would give it away, but Naruto seemed to pay no mind.

"Yup! I'm going to go find Sasuke so you can be happy again Sakura-chan, I'm really going this time!"

"That's great Naruto! When are you leaving?" She knew he wouldn't actually go, something always came up; a sudden urge to visit his parents, perhaps, maybe more training, he had even gone as far as using ramen cravings as an excuse. Regardless of why, there was always some reason he couldn't complete his visions. He wouldn't start now.

"I'm leaving right after this!"

Stunned, Sakura gaped at the excited ninja in front of her. This was sudden. Out of pattern, something was different.

"You have all your things packed up?"

"Yup," he gestured to the packs he had dropped by a tree, "I just wanted to come say goodbye. I actually have to leave soon, I'll be back though, and I'll bring Sasuke with me!"

Stupid, stupid, stupid- how could she have missed the packs? They were inn plain sight, directly in front of her. How could she have not seen them? Sakura's head was spinning; he never left, never actually carried through. She didn't need this right now. She didn't need it ever.

She could see that her silence did not go unnoticed- he looked worried,

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?

No, she wasn't okay; everybody was leaving her, all of them- trying to get away. First Sasuke, and now Naruto. She wasn't strong enough to hold them back, to keep them near her. They all wanted the escape. Was she that bad, was she really so terrible that nobody could stand to be with her?

"I'm fine," she wasn't. Her hands were shaking; she couldn't lose him, not now. "I'll walk you to the gate ok?"

"Alright!" He didn't know, of course not, she should be happy for him, like a good friend would be, excited that he was excited, proud to know somebody so motivated, proud that he considered her such a great friend.

She followed him to the north gate, a few paces behind. They didn't talk, and she could tell the silence, so comforting to her was tearing at him. He didn't mask well his disappointment. She wouldn't let him lose confidence now though; she knew she would never forgive herself. So, she made conversation.

"So, um, where do you plan to go first?" It was an awkward intro, it wasn't nearly as eloquent as it should have been, she knew it well, but she couldn't think right now. Her entire body had turned to ice, and that included her usually even flowing speech.

"I'm not sure, I was thinking of heading out to Suna, I think Gaara might be able to point me in the right direction."

"Oh." She didn't have anything else to say. Damn. She couldn't think. "Well…" panic swept her, her mind had never been this blank, never this empty, "um..." not good, not good. " Well…"

"I'll be back Sakura, don't worry." She hadn't noticed his stop, odd. Her foot tapped lightly on the ground next to him. She moved her arm in uncertainty; she didn't know where to put it. Not crossed, certainly not hanging, she couldn't put them behind her head. Clasped? No, definitely not. The twitching must have been obvious to him, for he took her hands in his own, "Stop it. I can tell that you're tearing yourself apart, you're not that good at hiding it." This shocked her; he shouldn't be able to read it. The mask must have fallen. "I will be back ok? It's a promise. I don't break my promises."

A smile traced her mouth, he never had, and after all, a promise was a promise.

"Well now you've promised."

"Of course silly!" He was delighted that he had gotten her talking; it was obvious on his face.

"Alright then, you have two weeks."

"HEY!"

"You promised."

"I never said two weeks…"

"Sure you did" The lie flowed easily, she was used to it.

"When?"

"You just did. Promises are for keeping." It was better this way, he never broke the promises; he would be back in two weeks.

"I remember now! Let's go Sakura-chan, The clock is ticking!" Racing to the gate, it was hard to keep up with him, he didn't even stop when he got there, just sped right through like a bullet, unstoppable, determined to continue his course.

***

_I don't like this chapter, not one bit. From a literary perspective it's horrifying- it's rushed it hasn't been proofread etcetc. But if I hadn't put it up now, believe me you would not have seen anything for a very, very long time. I'll revise it sometime soon- in the meantime… try to enjoy? Happy rought-drafting :)_

_Also, I just got kicked out of a $400 class because my scanner was broken. Hopefully my crazy-awesome suck up and beg skills will save me this time!_


End file.
